In the first episode of Peacemaker Season 2, the titular character discovered an alternate reality where his father, Auggie, as well as his brother, Keith, was alive. This caused Chris to freak out and return to his realm, where he tried to audition for the Justice Gang (probably not the official name) in the hopes of becoming a superhero. That didn’t go really well. To make things worse, he had a tiff with Harcourt, who was going through a rough patch herself because of Project Butterfly, and he tried to let off some steam by organizing a full-on orgy. When that didn’t work out, he stumbled back into the aforementioned alternate reality and had a seemingly good time with Auggie 2 and Keith 2. However, things took a turn for the worse when Peacemaker 2 showed up and tried to kill Chris. Either it was a stroke of luck, or maybe Chris was just better than Chris 2, but Chris managed to kill Chris 2. Now, unbeknownst to Chris, he was being monitored by Flag Sr. via Economos, partly because he didn’t want another interdimensional rift, like the one Luthor had created, and partly because he wanted to avenge his son, who had been killed by Chris. How were these plot threads furthered in episode 2 of Peacemaker season 2? Let’s find out.
Spoiler Alert
Everybody Is Hurting
Eight months prior to the events of Peacemaker Season 2, Flag Sr. became the new acting director of ARGUS after Waller was fired for her involvement in Project Butterfly. After Economos was done walking him through almost every nook and cranny of their office, Flag Sr. asked Economos to bring him the full report of his son’s death. As he read it, we essentially got a recap of The Suicide Squad, specifically the part where Chris killed Rick Flag, following which Flag Sr. ordered Bordeaux to keep an eye on Chris with the help of a surveillance unit. Before discussing the present-day events of the show, I just want to say that Frank Grillo is not a good fit for Rick Flag Sr. I was giving him a pass because the animation did most of the heavy lifting in Creature Commandos, he wasn’t heavily featured in Superman, and he didn’t have any big moments in the first episode of this season. But the scene where his character was suffering a full-on mental breakdown, thinking about what Chris had done to his character’s son, should have convinced me that he was perfect for this role; it didn’t. And no, the DCU wasn’t my introduction to Grillo. I have been watching his work since Minority Report. He is good at action, but mixing it with drama isn’t quite his forte. I don’t know if this is an issue that can be fixed, but I hope it is.
Alright, coming back to the plot, in the present day, Chris stuffs Chris 2’s dead body under a table in the Quantum Unfolding Chamber and then calls up (Chris uses a LordTech phone) Adrian to help him destroy the evidence of the murder. Adebayo is on her way to Chris’ house too, but she makes a pit stop at Keeya’s house to get some of her stuff that she didn’t pick up while she was breaking up with her partner. Her timing is a little off, which is why she runs into Keeya, who is currently working at Jitters Coffee and is very angry that they never moved back to Gotham. Realizing that there’s no way to undo the hurt she has caused to Keeya, Adebayo just leaves. Speaking of “hurt,” Harcourt goes to the local pharmacy to get some medicine for her injuries, and she is approached by a woman who thinks Harcourt is a victim of domestic abuse. Harcourt could have just said that she was in a bar fight, but instead of doing so, she goes off on the woman by saying that she isn’t “a mirror” for victims to project themselves onto. In this climate, I’m sure that this display of toxic femininity will be celebrated by some who think this is what “real women” should do. But going by Harcourt’s reaction right after she is done unloading on that poor woman, it’s evident that she is regretful. She realizes that she has issues and she needs to work on herself; she just doesn’t know how.
Eagly Goes Into Beast Mode
As Harcourt heads back home, the focus of the episode goes back to Chris’ house, where Economos is keeping an eye on his friend. He is joined by Langston Fleury, who has been sent by Bordeaux to assist Economos. Fleury apparently suffers from “bird blindness,” because of which he can’t differentiate between an eagle and a parrot. Prosopagnosia, or face blindness, is a real thing, but in case you are wondering, no, nobody’s ever been diagnosed with bird blindness. Anyway, once Economos and Fleury are done discussing this preposterous “health condition,” they focus on Chris, who is telling Adebayo about the Quantum Unfolding Chamber. Adebayo already knows about its existence because Economos told her, but she was supposed to pretend that she doesn’t because if Chris learns that Economos is spying on him for ARGUS, it’ll break his heart. But I guess Adebayo thinks that if she lies to Chris, she’ll be adding to his pain. Hence, she bluntly reveals that he is under surveillance and that Flag Sr. knows that he is the one who killed his son. In addition to that, Adebayo gives Chris two pieces of advice so that he isn’t sent to Arkham or Belle Reve: don’t use the portal, and give the portal to ARGUS. Before Chris can give this point any more thought, Adrian arrives to take care of Chris 2’s dead body. So, they bid Adebayo adieu, with the promise of reuniting for the party later at night, and get to work in the Quantum Unfolding Chamber.
Chris requests one of his orgy partners, Zora, to get the rest of the partygoers to leave. I don’t think that this Zora is Zora Vi-Lar from Kandor, who will go on to become a nemesis of Supergirl, whose DCU film is on the horizon. If it is, though, I won’t be surprised. As soon as Chris and Adrian step into the pocket dimension to erase any evidence of Chris 2’s death, Economos, Fleury, and Bordeaux are notified about it. Bordeaux tells Fleury that once Chris and Economos leave to attend the aforementioned party, Fleury is going to lead a team of ARGUS agents to do a full sweep of his house and check what’s going on with that portal. But she orders Fleury to not let Economos know about it, because then he is going to somehow relay that information to Chris, and Chris might activate some kind of security system that’ll prevent Fleury and his team from investigating what’s going on with the Quantum Unfolding Chamber. Well, the joke’s on both Bordeaux and Fleury, because Chris’ security system is Eagly, and he is always at home to protect the house. And, yes, it’s really satisfying to see Eagly show a bunch of armed agents who’s the boss. At the rooftop party at the apartment where Harcourt lives, the 11th Street Kids’ reunion starts off fine. Everybody seems to be having a lot of fun. Adrian shows off his pelvic sorcery as well as his tighty-whities. Adebayo advises Economos to quit his job at ARGUS since he doesn’t like the work environment all that much; maybe she can poach him into Adebayo Security Consulting once that business venture becomes profitable.
Chris Leaves His Universe
At the end of Peacemaker Season 2, episode 2, things sort of go sideways once Chris tries to be a little vulnerable with Harcourt so that she can feel comfortable opening up about her predicament. But, once again, Harcourt’s “toxic masculinity” kicks into high gear, and she disparages his feelings towards her. So, Chris decides to get drunk and enter an alternate reality where Harcourt 2 supposedly has feelings for him—well, Chris 2, to be specific. If it wasn’t obvious in last week’s episode, it’s abundantly clear now that Chris wants to leave his reality and take the place of Chris 2 in this reality because, on the surface, everything seems delightful there. Chris thinks that his life in his reality is messed up beyond repair. He has no family. He can’t be a superhero. The woman that he loves hates his guts. In the alternate reality, he has a family, he is a superhero, and there is a version of Harcourt there who probably wants to get back with him. So, yeah, I understand Chris’s decision. However, once he sobers up, the consequences of his actions are going to catch up to him very quickly. Everyone who is familiar with how Chris 2 acts is going to figure out that there’s an imposter among them. That’s when the facade that this alternate reality is all sunshine and rainbows is going to fall apart, and Chris will be hit with the realization that it’s better to make amends in a reality that he is familiar with than try to adjust in a reality that’s technically alien to him.
That said, with Rick Flag Sr.’s bloodlust increasing with each passing day, it’ll be tough for Chris to make a choice between which reality he should choose. Who knows? Maybe he’ll be compelled to escape into a third alternate reality where there is no Peacemaker, because that’ll allow him to blend in as a civilian pretty easily. If that sounds like a stretch, let’s just hope that Flag Sr. finds an alternate version of his son in this alternate reality, and he makes peace with the fact that at least in some realities, his son is alive and well. Yes, in case you haven’t heard it already, there’s a popular theory doing the rounds of the DCU fandom that Harcourt 2’s “jarhead” boyfriend is Rick Flag 2. If that theory becomes fact, there’s a good possibility that Chris’ attempt to “steal his girl” will lead to a fight between Chris and Flag, which’ll end with the death of this Flag too. If Flag Sr. bears witness to that, his rivalry with Chris will take the second spot on the ranked list of best DCU rivalries; Superman and Luthor are going to hold the top spot for quite a while. Anyway, those are just my thoughts on Peacemaker Season 2, episode 2. If you have any opinions on the same, feel free to share them in the comments section below.
